Software Lives A Long Time

My friend Shawn Broderick (currently CEO / founder of TrustPlus) just wrote a blog post wishing Chron X a happy 10th birthday. I was an investor in Genetic Anomalies – the company that Shawn started that created Chron X – and I remember being intrigued by the idea of “virtual property” in 1997. Amazingly – 10 years later – Chron X is still around and virtual property is now commonplace.

It’s been a little over 20 years since the first major production system that I wrote went live. It was creatively named “Bellflower Dental Group Patient Management System.” As of a few years ago it was still being used (yes – at Bellflower Dental Group) – I wonder if it’s still happily pumping out insurance bills for root canals.

While 10 years might seem like a long time in the software industry, as the industry ages, it’s not so long anymore.